Customer Reviews

NEW Daniela Mercury - Canibalia (CD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been a Daniela Mercury fan since 1992 and this offering is close to her worst. The only songs worth listening are:
O Que É Que a Baiana Tem
Preta
Sol do Sol
A Vida É Um Carnaval
Bênção do Samba

And these are the standard fare that Daniela has offered us over the years.

Probably the worst song on the CD is Oyá Por Nós which features Margareth Menezes who co-wrote the song with her. Tico-Tico No Fubá is just as bad.

I don't see anything new with the music offered on this CD either. It's basically the standard Daniela offering plus elements of Carnaval Eletrônico and Sou de Qualquer Lugar thrown in for good measure.

With 5 good songs out of 14 which equals a 2.8 rating, I'll have to give it 3 stars.

You can listen to the whole album via this link (if I'm allowed to display it here???)
[...]

Now that this album has been released in North America I offer the following:

This is an extremely sophisticated album given the very important premise that Daniela Mercury is in essence making a huge declaration by entitling the work Canibalia.

Canibália's "mission" according to press, is to reach into the future by traveling through the continuum of two significant upheavals that marked Brazilian culture forever: The Brazilian Modernist Movement spawned by the Oswaldo Andrade's 1928 Manifesto Antropófago, the 1968 Tropicalia Movement launched by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso's recording Tropicália: ou Panis et Circensis.

Andrade's manifesto argues that based on the premise that the history of Brazil has, as its greatest strength, the power to cannibalize others and simultaneously plays with the idea of cannibalism as a modern primitivism; like a presumed tribal rite. Cannibalism then, becomes a way for Brazil to reaffirm itself against the cultural domination of Post Colonial Europe.

The NY Times/ Jon Pareles nails it:"The Brazilian songwriter and singer Daniela Mercury titled her latest album, "Canibália" ("Cannibalism"), to allude to the 1928 "Manifesto Antropófago" ("Cannibal Manifesto"), a defining work of Brazilian modernism by the poet Oswald de Andrade, which praises Brazilian culture for devouring and digesting other cultures. That's a declaration of serious ambition that the album lives up to."
and " "smart, euphoric, time-tangling Brazilian pop: as traditional as a samba band or a carnival beat at one moment, an excursion into electronics, hip-hop or jazz the next."

Daniela Mercury has always been ahead of her time and this album, Canibalia, is no different.

While I completely agree that the production values are completely out of control - there are five producers! - The essence of the album nonetheless, is a forward and cohesive move by the artist who has never been satisfied with repeating herself nor her past successful formulas. This is a study of antropofagia in 21st century music from Brazil. All of Mercury's albums have been ecclectic and while some have been definite masterpieces, her entire discography has much to offer.

In this album, the stand outs are: Trio em Transe,Oya por Nos, Preta, Castelo Imaginario, Bencao do Samba and O Que Sera. Secondary to these: O Que e Que a Baiana Tem and A vida E Um Carnaval (a gorgeous translation of Celia Cruz's mega hit)and Tico Tico no Fuba.

The rest are just short of "on the mark": Sol do Sul (too simplistic but catchy), Dona Desse Lugar (too anthemic and grandiose), This Life is Beautiful (too complicated and not cohesive), Cinco Meninos (great but progressively sappy) and One Love (great retro version of Sara Tavares' original but belongs on club dance floor).

I will hold ground to say that like Sou de Qualquer Lugar- the first (and beautiful) album that Mercury released with a heavy dose of fusion between electronic and axe/samba-reggae, Canibalia will prove to be yet another gem in her discography.

That said, Canibalia due to it heavy handed production, will live best as a live show. I found this link online with a good number of the songs on the CD-[...] do not know how long it will be up ...

I know every cd of Daniela. Not all ot them are at the first range. But this one is very fine because it shows many aspects of the actual brazilian music. The songs itself are catchy but warm and impressive. Indeed there are five different covers around and the title sequence differs - what for? five producers, first studio cd after five years? unnecessarily.
But all in all: Eu falo esta cd é muito bom, muito legal! Have fun with it.

This is the kind of album that, were it to have come from a pop singer "exploring new musical territory" or "injecting a Latin sound into electronica," might be considered a technical success. It might even get points for daring. Instead, it's the latest from someone claiming to be Daniela Mercury, but bearing little resemblance to the Queen of Axé -- and not just because of the over-airbrushed booklet photos that look disconcertingly like J-Lo. This very slick, overproduced effort (the work of her son, Gabriel Povoas, so maybe it's a generational thing) hides just about everything that Daniela is loved for. Her extraordinarily rich voice, with its wide range, is kept within a very narrow focus. Her born-with-it skill of interpretation, working the contours of each word and note, is kept in check by the talky/rappy/clipped style that most of these tracks require. There's simply no time in these songs for interpretation. This is electronica with a few nods to Brazil. The intent seems to be to show off the sound, not the singer, which is a crime when the singer you've got is Daniela. These tracks could have been recorded by just about anyone, with the same result. Can you say that about O Canto da Cidade? The alegria -- joy -- seems almost entirely gone in the rush to get through the numbers. You'd be hard-pressed to prove that this is the same woman of Feijão com Arroz, the tour-de-force that's generally acknowledged as Daniela's masterpiece. It's understandable that one of the biggest stars in Latin America would want to go for the US market, but this is not the way to go about it. Instead of introducing a broader audience to real, true Daniela Mercury -- how about Elétrica or Eletrodoméstico -- she comes off as a lightweight singer trying desperately to be noticed in the crowded echo chamber of American Top 40 radio. Can you imagine?

Come back, Daniela!

Daniela Mercury, excels every job, which makes up received throughout his career are insufficient when we see it on stage, the disc Cannibalism is an exaltation of all experiments made ''in his workshop musical, is vibrant, whimsical, and very Brazilian , running away from a shopping scheme that alienates the masses with a hidden joy, as Caetano Veloso said in Wonderful: we must be alert and strong ... and Daniel is the living synthesis of this sentence! mandatory item ...

I absolutely love this album! I listened to it 3 times in its entirety before I was hooked. Daniela has a deep admiration for Carmen Miranda and pays tribute with O que e que a baiana tem, by incorporating pieces of the original recording of Carmen Miranda along with her own voice (a lot like Natalie Cole did with her father's recordings). It's wonderful! True fans of Daniela Mercury will love this! I just saw her perform live on Oct. 13 at The Greek Theatre in LA, and she was phenomenal!

El trabajo de Daniela Mercury se distingue de todos los demás artistas del Axé, por algo la proclaman como la Reina de este género. Las letras de las canciones, su bonita voz y su proyección escenica llenas de color y alegría muestran el
forklore de su pueblo. Este trabajo, al igual que sus pasados conciertos, presenta distintas expresiones de arte- música, baile, pintura, de una manera creativa y genial, lo que lo hace ser sencillamente...EXCELENTE!

Daniela Mercury's Canibália is beautifully audacious and innovative, truly one of her finest. This CD is filled with her passion for the arts and love for her country - Brazil. Energetic, invigorating, poetic, melodic and mature are some of the many adjectives I would use to describe this amazing work of hers. Honestly, I can not wait for the DVD to come out.

I just wish everyone had the sensibility to understand Daniela Mercury and her art. Her music is not done purely for profit, but to bring social change and social justice. Moreover, she does it because that is what she loves doing. Unfortunately, it has been the norm that the masses only recognize a genius when they lose one. Nonetheless, I do believe the masses will acclaim this masterpiece called Canibália.

Daniela delivers a wild, thoroughly modern recording that combines her unique brand of samba-rock with up-to-the-minute production. As the writer or co-writer of many of the songs, she offers a very personal statement from a restless artist who refuses to play it safe. The album's 'Big Beat' production certainly hits you first, but there are fun, beautifully written songs and masterful arrangements at the core. Gems like her duet with Seu Jorge, 'Preta,' the reggae-ish 'Sol du Sul' or the inspired cover of Celia Cruz's 'La Vida Es Un Carnaval' show that Daniela is still growing, still taking chances. There's a lot of meaty, daring music here, heavily informed by her deep knowledge of Brazilian roots music, while slyly incorporating other less traditional elements. Daniela is taking her giddy fusion to a beautiful new level. And at the center of this musical maelstrom is her message of joy and her earnest commitment to creating a 'revolution of happiness.' This mature artist is at the stage in her career that she is going to fearlessly pursue her vision with joyful abandon and hope that we all catch up. Thank goodness!